2 Chronicles 12

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the idea we have that our lives here on Earth should be easy and relatively painless. We must have this idea buried deep somewhere in our minds, for it seems that when any of us face adversity or crisis, we react with shock. How could this happen to me? Next, we focus our energies on how to get out of the unpleasant situation.

As Christians, we know there is a day coming when there will be no more sorrow and no more tears... but it’s not today! In this world of evil, we should pretty much expect trouble—especially if we are followers of Christ. But, whether we are Christians or not, nobody escapes pain in this life.

The question of how God relates to pain and suffering is one that has been asked and answered (in a myriad of ways) over centuries, and is in fact still being asked and answered. I think it’s reasonable to say that God never intended for there to be hardship and suffering. His plan was only one of beauty and goodness. It was we who screwed things up in that regard. So now that God is faced with an evil world, what is His response to it?

Certainly, that question involves a much larger and more complex answer than we can find in a short blog, but today’s chapter from 2 Chronicles provided a brief glimpse into how God interacted with the suffering of His people when they were under the reign of King Rehoboam. The people had abandoned God, and they had been attacked and captured by the Egyptians: "When the Lord saw that [the leaders of Israel and the king had] humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to [the prophet] Shemaiah: 'Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.'" (vs 7-8)

Wow. Did you find that as interesting as I did? God may not have inspired the Egyptians to attack Israel, but once it had happened, God said that He was planning to use this awful situation to educate the Israelites. By being abandoned to the heathen Egyptians, by being forced to live as slaves under Shishak, God would help them understand what a good thing they had thrown away. Hopefully, they would be less likely to abandon God in the future.

You see, in the last chapter, we read about how Rehoboam fortified many of the cities in Judah. He did this in order to withstand attacks by the enemy. But he misunderstood the source of his strength. It was not in the bars and walls. It was in the Lord. When the Israelites in Judah turned their backs on God, the people who lived in the fortified cities became little clusters of sitting ducks. God was the source of their strength—not the walls.

And no matter where or how adversity comes to us in this life, I believe God uses it in the same way—to educate us. Just as the Israelites needed to learn that their strength was in God and not in stone, we have similar lessons to learn. That our stability is in God, not in a paycheck. That our security is in God, not in a government pat-down program. That our peace is in God, not in making sure we insulate ourselves from disaster. That our hope is in God, not in our ability to control all of life’s circumstances.

So, though it is hard, next time you face a crisis, don’t be so quick to try to get out of it. Instead, ask God what He wants you to get out of it. He is eager to teach us so many things. Are we willing to learn?